


I'm gonna Show You

by Diddle_Riddle



Series: Scars to your Beautiful [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: A cat can change a life, And Eddie is a cat lover, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abuse, Dick Grayson is Robin, Gen, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Like very very important, Psychological Trauma, Suicidal Thoughts, but things get better, this is very important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-02-08 18:12:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18628573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diddle_Riddle/pseuds/Diddle_Riddle
Summary: "I heard this young lady calling for help.", the woman introduced in a velvet voice. "I was about to intervene when you walked by, and I found... interesting, to watch what you were going to do with the situation."Edward looked at her wide-eyed."You are... Catwoman?!", he exclaimed, and the rogue's predatory smile grew wider."And you appear to be... perceptive.", she mocked lightly in return.





	I'm gonna Show You

**Author's Note:**

> This work is part of a series, but each part can be read as a stand-alone, the episodes are made to be autonomous and independent enough.  
> If you want to read everything though, I strongly recommend you follow the numerical order, since there is a chronological and logical progression, following Edward's evolution through the years at different key moments of his life.
> 
> The title for this part is from the song 'I'm Gonna Show You Crazy' by Bebe Rexha, because in my opinion it fits well a teenage Edward Nygma trying to find his path and making his very first steps into villainy.  
> Thank you for reading! Enjoy :)

"It's Batman and Robin! Over there!"

The flock of children, three girls and two boys who were all about five-six years old he'd say, pointed happily to the two silhouettes who passed by, flying between the buildings nearby where they fired of their grapple hooks.

Edward's jaw clenched seeing the kids' enthusiasm.

Yes, Batman and Robin, he thought sarcastically. Always them. Such wonderful role models they make!

"You think I will meet them one day?", one of the kids, a little girl asked, and the four other children giggled.

"I want to become like Robin!", a blond boy bragged, and the others laughed more forcefully.

"You can't fight like he does!", his comrade argued.

"But Batman can teach me!", he defended.

"I want to be like Robin too!", another girl said happily, and they kept arguing over that even now the Dynamic Duo wasn't in sight anymore.

Edward didn't know why he payed so much attention to the childish dialogue, but the words the kids kept voicing echoed painfully in his head.

"Batman is my hero!"

"I want to meet him!"

"I want to be just like him!"

"One day, I'll be Batman's sidekick!"

... and more comments of that kind.

How many people were fans of the Bat in Gotham City now? How many children looked up to him, Robin and Batgirl as their role models? How many teens dreamed about meeting or interacting with one of them one day? How many persons felt safe at night because they have faith in those three lunatics in costume who supposedly watch over the town?

How many...

For how long...

Edward clenched his fists, the echos of these formulated dreams wrecking balls inside his brain. He wanted to scream them loud, wanted to let it all out, to... to... He didn't even know what he wanted to do, or who he was anymore.

He used to be one of these kids. Looking up to Batman, worshipping Batman, collecting as many informations as he could about him because he was his hero. For years, he believed he could maybe even become his... acolyte, he dreamed of having a role in Batman's fight even if he didn't know precisely which one. He came to Gotham when he ran away from his birth home because he wanted to meet him.

He dreamed of all of that.

And now the dreams were gone.

Edward forced himself to calm down. His admiration for the bats recently turned into an unnamed feeling. Not hatred, not repulsion, nothing of that kind, but rather a strong sense of... disappointment. They disappointed him. They were not his heroes anymore, and they won't ever be again.

He stood up from the bench where he was sitting, and walked out to reach his current hideout.

He called it 'hideout' because it was a squat, not a rent, so he couldn't consider it his 'place' and even less his 'home'. He turned fifteen two days ago, and found this abandoned apartment complex to stay at last week. The building still had electricity and running water, like it happened from time to time during the mean time between when a building is disused and the moment when the municipality realizes they forgot to cut electricity and water in every apartments. It was a recurrent motif in the big, _giant_ even, agglomeration that is Gotham City.

So since a few days, Edward found himself having a flat all for himself where he could go back at night. A few other apartments in the building were used by people who noticed the advantage and the fact the commodities were still accessibles, so he had neighbors too. But those were homeless like him, not dealers or potentially dangerous people, just persons desperately seeking for a place to spend a night at other than on the streets.

As a result, Ed was not worried for his safety inside the building, and the only two times he met someone in the corridors, those persons quickly passed by without looking at him. They were the same type of people: the kind who is scared because they know everyone around wants to abuse them in every possible way, so they just try to be discreet and not drag too much attention on them. This was exactly the version of neighbors he needed not to be afraid inside the studio, not to imagine someone forcing his door open and entering in the place. He was among his kind: the persons who just try to survive and know that going unnoticed is their best option to stay alive by not attracting unwanted attention from unsavory people.

So now, Edward had an apartment! He didn't know for how long, and was prepared to be expelled overnight, like it was the case in these recently abandoned buildings. The day the municipality remembered about the place and sent the police to make all the squatters leave, he'll be back on the streets. But these buildings used that way by homeless were quite numerous across town, and the city council had already so many much more urgent cases to deal with, so perhaps he will enjoy this improvement in his situation a few weeks. Maybe even a few _months_ , if he was a bit lucky for once. And well, he'll search for something else when he couldn't use the hideout anymore, he wasn't especially worried for that part.

Needless to say, it was _way more comfortable_  to have a place to stay at, than to be on his own outside and pay for a crappy motel room once in a blue moon when he had enough money. For the rest, he slept at a client's after an evening spent letting a disgusting adult use his body, in exchange of money, a meal, him sleeping the night at the place of the client and taking a shower before leaving. The other nights, before last week he stayed outside.

Still no job, though. Still no incomes other than what he made in bars or with clients. Still no social situation. Still no... life.

Edward wasn't living, he was _surviving_.

And he was beginning to grow seriously tired of having no objective other than to find enough food not to die, while still being starving all the time, and having no other preoccupation during all days than what he was going to do for the night. Where to go, and, if he needed money, what bar to reach to get approached by a bastard and let him use him in exchange of enough bills to pay himself a few proper meals per week and an hotel room later, at least twice a month, in order to benefit of a full night of sleep in a safe place. Then he'll start again.

It was not a life. It was far from being what he hoped from Gotham when he arrived in town, and it... lasted. Given the way things were, he didn't even believe they could _change_ anymore. And the sensation of being trapped in this situation he despised but couldn't freed himself from was, slowly but surely, _killing_ him.

What good was it to keep letting people hurt him like that, being forced to do this just to maintain a situation he hated and in the one everything was dark and... hopeless?! What was he waiting for to end it once and for all?! It wasn't like anyone will mourn him, since nobody _knew_ him. It wasn't like the world was going to miss him; no more than he'd miss the world.

So _what was he waiting for_? The day a thug will split his throat instead of beating him to take what little money he had in his pockets? The day he will pass out from one of the fevers he caught during winter, by spending the nights outside in the cold because he had no place to go? Or maybe he just waited for an accident. One day, he'll be in the middle of a gang fight like it happened regularly over the town, and he will get shot in the confusion, he will take a stray bullet and it will be over for him. Or he will be in the middle of an attack led by one of the rogues, and this time he won't escape the explosion, fire, fear toxin, monstruous plants or things of that kind that often made victims during villains' interventions across the city.

This was going to end, one way or another.

And he was not even curious to find out in what manner his death will happen, given the fact he was not searching for anything to light up his life a little either.

He just didn't care anymore, about anything.

_____________________

 

"Leave it be!"

The two very young boys looked up, clearly not used to be lectured; and they began to judge if he was a potential threat or not.

"You better walk out _right now_.", Edward growled, imitating a menacing expression and trying to make himself look older, taller, and more... bossy. "Go away."

The two boys looked at each other, then up to him and grumbled insults and other charming nicknames. But given their clothes, they were no street kids, they maybe even had a good social situation. Probably one of the reasons why they thought they could act like bullies while not being used to be scolded for the behavior. But directly linked to their social status, came the fact they were also not tempted by a fight or by arguing much longer over something that was, in their opinion, apparently not worth it. They rather elected to walk away, more likely going back to their parents'.

And they left behind them a bleeding, hurt creature they would have killed for _distraction_. To Edward, people like this deserved nothing but to _suffer_.

The little thing let out a meow sounding like a broken plea, and Edward quickly knelt close to its position. He didn't know how to act either patient or reassuring with another human being, he never experienced much in this field. But it somehow felt... natural, to be caring with a cat.

"It's okay.", he said gently, looking at the grey kitten. "I won't hurt you."

The little cat must be around three-four months old, barely weaned.

From the way it couldn't put itself on its minuscule paws again, both his front legs were obviously sprained or broken, and there was a bleeding wound on the side of his head, along with another cut on his left side.

The poor thing was going to die, suffering and alone, if nothing was done. There was no way it could survive on its own.

Edward took off his coat, stitched and patched-up at multiple spots. These first days of November announced a very cold incoming month, and if this kitten didn't pass out because of the abuse, it will die because of the temperature at night.

"I have a place to go.", he proposed softly.

Edward sincerely believed intelligence was far from being a thing reserved for humans, and he greatly despised the ridiculous philosophies saying animals are machines or unable to think. To him it was only a matter of individuals. Some people are clever, some other are brutes and not everyone is at the same level. Well it's the same thing for every animal, and human kind is just another animal specie. Not because an individual, no matter the living specie concerned, is a dumb and cruel creature means every animal of the same specie is like that too.

And besides, Eddie has always been a cat lover.

"I won't hurt you.", he repeated to the small, trembling creature.

Then he put his coat on the ground, the inside of the cloth face up, where it was the most warm and comfortable, and patted the spot as an invitation.

"This is not a trap.", he argued again. "I can take you to my hideout, you'll have an... almost safe, place to stay. The safer I can offer, at least."

The small creature looked up to him with big, questioning golden eyes. They were of an amber, delicate shade that seemed to glow like a golden-brown gemstone. Then, hesitantly, the kitten made a gesture to come closer, but in the state of its paws, it couldn't stand to take a step toward him. This was all Edward needed though, to be certain the cat won't try to defend itself or won't get scared if he took hold of him, so he delicately, carefully, moved the broken body from the cold floor to the inside of his coat.

The movement caused the kitty to let out a weak plea of apprehension, but it didn't try to fight, and let itself being huddled in the cloth, then lifted when Edward stood up, the homemade warm bag cautiously secured between his arms. The kitten looked up to him.

"See?", he said fondly. "Everything's alright. My hideout is two blocks from here, I have medical supplies and a few tin cans. You're lucky, I even have a tuna one I didn't open yet."

Sure, 'lucky' was probably not the description fitting the best the kitten at its hurt state -her, it was a girl as he found out when scooping it up. But knowing a lot about injuries and healing process, and since the cat would have died if he didn't meet her, Edward considered she has been lucky they crossed paths.

He started to walk to the main alley to head back to his flat, when a shadow moved out of the wall in the lane and advanced toward him. Edward startled, and quikly recoiled, scared, when the silouhette addressed him a smile, bright white teeth shining in the dark of this beginning of night.

"I heard this young lady calling for help.", the woman introduced in a velvet voice. "I was about to intervene when you walked by, and I found... interesting, to watch what you were going to do with the situation."

Edward looked at her wide-eyed.

"You are... Catwoman?!", he exclaimed, and the rogue's predatory smile grew wider.

"And you appear to be... perceptive.", she mocked lightly in return, and Ed's cheeks flushed with a mix of contradictory feelings.

Surprise, apprehension, excitement upon meeting face-to-face his first rogue...

The kitten whined, and he urgently looked down to her.

"I have to go.", he said quickly, holding carefully the injuried baby cat. "Sorry.", he added for his unexpected interlocutor. "I really wished I had time to talk, but I have an emergency I need to take care of."

Catwoman let out a pleased sound reminiscent of a... purr, upon hearing the rush in his voice.

"I must say I love your sense of responsibilities.", she approved. "I won't take more of your time, go help your damsel in distress."

Then she turned around. Edward was about to leave and reach his hideout, when his expert eyes noticed the _state_ of Catwoman's suit.

And responsibilities or not, he was _curious_ before anything else, so he couldn't help but inquire, with the typical tone of someone who desperately needs an answer whenever he asks a question:

"You got hurt during a scheme?"

She turned two glowing, piercing eyes to him.

"... Your right shoulder.", Edward hastily justified. "It's dislocated. And you're bleeding."

Catwoman cocked her head to the side.

"So?", she asked curtly. "What are you gonna do about it?"

"... Do you... hu... You have somewhere to go?"

This time she arched both her eyebrows, stunned.

"Are you honestly trying to invite a woman over, kid?!"

"No... But I have medical supplies.", he just repeated. "And I live alone, you won't get bothered by any judicial complications. I am not one to call the cops."

Then he shrugged.

"As you wish.", he completed. "Just follow me if you want."

Then he went on walking in the night, in this rather calm part of town, at a fringe location from the active neighborhoods or the commercial zones.

Catwoman's emerald green eyes followed him a short moment, as she was left quite _confused_ by the turn of the exchange. Not that she needed this child's help with anything, she could perfectly deal with her injuries on her own. But now she was... curious, too.

And being a cat, curiosity and interest have always been a leitmotiv very hard to resist to. So it didn't take a too long internal reflexion for her to decide she might give it a try. After all, she had no other urgent thing to take care of right now. So she walked after him, just when he turned at the angle of a street and wasn't in view anymore.

Ed smiled a little when he felt the presence at his side.

"It's two streets over there.", he indicated, feeling strangely pleased yet not as excited as he thought such an encounter would make him feel.

It was partly because of the kitten, he realized.

His sense of priorities kept him from being overjoyed by a meeting with a rogue while he had a medical emergency, maybe even two. He will perhaps feel the childish excitement of meeting a celebrity later, for now he was focused on the task at hand, and made mentally the list of things he needed for his operation and the order by which he must proceed.

As promised, it wasn't long before they arrived at destination, and they luckily didn't meet anybody during the short trip.

The building has not been reclaimed over the few weeks Edward lived in now.

"It's... I know it looks like a squat, but the place I use itself is clean. At least clean enough.", he said, a bit embarrassed suddenly, when they entered the hall covered of squashed cans and pieces of glass from beer bottles shattered on the floor.

Selina offered him a reassuring smile as they started to climb the stairs.

"It's perfect.", she stated gently.

This made Edward blush a little.

He knew the words were not directed at him personally, or pronounced to praise something he did or said. But... they were pleasant nonetheless. They sounded like a compliment.

Someone just made him a compliment.

Someone was... appreciative of what he was doing, in a way.

And that someone was Selina Kyle, supervillain known as Catwoman and one of Batman's nemesis.

Things were only getting weirder and weirder around here...

They entered the studio he used, and Ed quickly closed the door behind the three of them, before placing his coat on the mattress on the floor that served as bed/couch/only furniture here. He was about to start treating the kitten, when he turned back to Catwoman standing over there, who studied his movements with an obvious curiosity.

"Do you... need my hand with something? I don't doubt you can do it yourself.", he quickly justified, not wanting to get attacked by the thief if she judged he was being disrespectful. "But since I'm here, maybe I can... help.", he argued in a convincing manner. "I practiced the move enough, I can relocate your shoulder blade and check the state of the bone to see if there are no further damages."

"You know how to relocate a shoulder?", she repeated, surprised, and he nodded.

"I won't mess up.", he promised. "I have plenty of experience doing the gesture for myself, I know how to execute it. May I?"

"... Sure.", she answered, frowing a little at the 'plenty of experience' coming from, technically, a _child_.

She winced a little when the bone came back at its original spot, but didn't let any other expression of pain. It wasn't the first time her body betrayed her during a heist, but these occurrences were very _rare_ and truly _unpleasant_. Being strong as a rock and skilled at fighting like she was, it was always a very offensive inconvenience to be reminded she had limits too and couldn't suceed at everything every time.

Not that it ever kept her from _trying_ everything.

"You're welcome.", Ed concluded after he executed the movement, even though Catwoman didn't say anything sounding like a 'thank you', and she just looked at him, frowing a bit. "Do you need..."

"It's fine by me.", she assured. "Take care of your girl, I can deal with the rest myself."

He approved quietly, and just pointed to the door nearby.

"Bathroom's over there.", he indicated. "There is a complete first aid kit in the cupboards."

"You need something from there?"

He shook his head no.

"I have everything in the first aid kit over here.", he just specified, and she raised an eyebrow.

"You have _two_ complete first aid kits at your place?"

"Four.", he corrected, then quickly grabbed a box of medical supplies before getting to work, focusing on the priority before pursuing small talks.

Selina smiled a bit, before stepping in the bathroom and closing the door shut behind her.

The kid's hideout had running water and electricity, so it was better than a few places she used both during and before her career in... 'the business', as her and her colleagues called it.

Used to injuries, Selina has always been very able to resist to blows, cuts and other sympathetic marks of that kind. Meaning that despite the real state of her body at the moment, she appeared as having just a bruise and nothing that actually hurt.

She unzipped the upper part of her leather suit, and took the sleeves out, keeping just her undershirt on and revealing bruises turning from red to purple on her olive skin, as well as a wound at the level of her shoulder where the bullet passed, causing her to fall backwards and dislocating her shoulder blade in the wrong move. The other main injury was the wound on her left biceps where her attacker's knife cut into the muscles. It wasn't deep, so she was certain there was no internal damages there, since after all it would hurt far more if the blade touched the bone. But the cut needed stitches at least. And she hoped her right wrist would have been just bruised and not broken, but as she found out when she carefully took off her glove, and winced a bit at the sensation, that was too much to hope for.

Not at all a successful night.

Two small knocks at the door, later, while she tried to deal with the stitching of the cut on her arm.

"Miss Kyle?", the boy asked, a bit hesitant. "Do you need help for something?"

She pondered over the issue, then met her gaze in the mirror.

Technically, she could take care of the injuries by herself, she had a long experience of dealing with that kind of complications over the years. But strangely enough, and the sensation was new for her, she didn't... want to. Not right now while she could have someone to take care of her, and spare her broken wrist doing the stitching for her.

It wasn't long before she opened herself the door of the small bathroom, of just a few inches at first, and looked down at the teen.

"Have you already..."

"I dealt with that.", he spoke confidently. "Whatever injury you are referring to. I can fix it."

She opened the rest of the door not long after this. It was obvious he wasn't lying.

The redhead invited her to sit on the mattress on the floor, which was also one of the only furnitures inside the studio, aside from a few cardboard boxes where he most likely kept his stuff, and the very small yet equipped enough kitchen.

"I've never done it for another human than me before.", he warned as he took hold of the required material. "But I won't mess things up.", he said again, before taking a closer look at the injuries.

Then he gazed back at her.

"May I?"

"Go ahead, kid.", she agreed, and watched his gestures closely as he managed to take care at the same time of the stitching on her biceps and evaluated the damages on her wrist.

The injuries were equally important, so he made sure the cut wasn't bleeding anymore before making a precise and well-executed brace for the wrist, then went back to the arm to methodically finish the stitches Selina started. After what he took care of the flesh wound on her shoulder, evaluated if it needed stitches too, then decided it will indeed be a better solution, so he quickly performed these.

After a double check on the main injuries and asking her to do a few moves to see if nothing else was harmed, he concluded they could call it a day, and bandaged the cuts, like he did earlier for the wrist when he made the brace. Afterwards he washed his hands of the blood, then opened a little jar of arnica and plunged two fingers into the cream.

"For the bruises.", he justified.

"I know.", she said softly, still eying him with a certain fondness that appeared from the moment he began to improvise himself doctor.

And, being the cat she is, she let out a few satisfied sounds as the cool cream was spread delicately, with little circular motions, over the bruises on her shoulder, sides and arms.

She may was a loner in the every day life, she also loved being taken care of that way, being... spoiled like that. The two sides of a cat-like personality: loving both loneliness and affectionate attentions.

"I should probably have proposed before.", he realized after he finished. "But do you want... water?"

She smiled.

"I think I could use a drink, yes.", she confirmed, although she was not dehydrated, and he urged to the kitchen, that is to say made five steps to reach the cramped space, opened the small fridge and took a plastic bottle out of it.

"It's bottled.", he specified coming back to her. "It proves there is nothing else than water inside."

She shook her head upon hearing the clarification.

"I am prudent by nature.", she jeered while opening it. "But not _paranoid_. Besides kiddo, if you try to poison me I'm afraid things won't end up well for you. Not at all."

And she took two long glups of fresh water.

"That I can imagine.", he just commented, gently, and a sparkle of something looking like a held back, half-admitted admiration shined in his light green eyes.

It disappeared rapidly, though, as if he forced himself not to be appreciative or regretted he gave his own judgement, and Selina felt more and more interested every passing second.

Then she watched the gestures of the ginger boy as he went back to the grey cat, asleep on the bed in what looked like a nest of blankets. The middle of the body was meticulously dressed, but it was clear the bandages were not tight and didn't hamper movement, they have just been put in place to keep the cat from trying to bite the stitches on her stomach. And two other stitches were visible at the level of the side of her head, the boy didn't bandage that area, he probably judged there was no need since the scarring will be much faster on this spot. And to complete the picture, she had homemade but well-made braces on both her front paws.

"She drank almost a litre of water.", he pointed out, watching the little creature fondly. "Her injuries are not complicated, the bone is broken at only one spot on each paw, so it's quite easy to take care of it even without a x-ray. It turned out to be much more simple than I feared given her state. She fell asleep while I was still doing the bandages. Poor thing must be exhausted after such adventures."

Selina nodded, appreciative of the devotion she heard in his tone as he listed his diagnosis.

"You seem very skilled at that.", she noted, quite _impressed_ actually, by both the surprising rapidity and the clear precision the teenager showed to perform the intervention. "Who taught you how to be a doctor?"

"... No one. I learned on the field, and I got better with practice."

He hesitated an instant, then added quietly, to give stronger justification to his words:

"Nobody ever patched me up or showed me how to proceed, so... I had to learn how to do it myself."

He gently stroked the cat's fur between her two light grey ears, and smiled a little when she let out a, even tired, pleased sound at the sudden attention.

"Today it has been profitable for other people than me.", he completed. "So in the end, it's... useful."

"I can't argue against that indeed.", Catwoman approved, the bandages on her shoulder and her arm talking for her.

For as... strange, as the situation was, for both of them being there in this dingy place, it appeared as also oddly... comforting. Despite being in the presence of a rogue, not a glimpse of apprehension transpired in Edward's mind or behaviors, and Selina as for her didn't feel the urge to get out of here and go find another place on her own, since that kid was clearly anything but dangerous.

But it was unusual for her too, not to feel the familiar need to knock him out, steal his medicine and something to eat, plus anything he owned that she could use and then leave with the supplies. On the contrary, she wasn't worrying over anything right now, neither was she planning to disappear into the shadows. It was safe, and even... sympathetic enough here, for her to just want to stay around a bit. Since the boy offered food soon after this, there was definitely no need to leave.

Was that how it felt, to almost trust someone?

There is no word for 'old friends who just met', yet it was the exact kind of feeling shared in this cramped space right now.

(())

"I should probably have asked first what you usually take on morning.", he realized. "But... everyone likes coffee, so I thought you might... like coffee too."

Selina smiled a bit, and moved from lying on the nest of covers close to the cat, to a sitting position on the mattress with her back against the wall. She hadn't heard the kid leaving the apartment, and woke up just a few minutes before he came back, proving she was in truth more exhausted than she let on after yesterday's fight.

"That's very thoughtful.", she saluted when the boy gave her a paper cup he obviously just bought outside, and put a bag of pastries close to her. "And I like coffee.", she confirmed then, smelling the hot drink with appreciation.

Then she eyed the bag of fresh food coming straight from a bakery.

"You really have nothing in your kitchen, to the point you need to go out to buy breakfast?", she jested, and he blushed a little.

"I... don't have anything looking like breakfast.", he retorted, slightly embarrassed. "I do a meal per day, sometimes two, but it's never this one. I... don't usually eat on the morning."

Her sarcastic demeanor changed to... something akin to concern, as she looked him over and asked again, more delicate this time:

"Because you don't have for habit to eat on morning, or because given your saves you can allow yourself only one meal per day?"

"Second option.", he admitted. "It used to be much worse.", he dithered though. "Now _at least_ I have... one complete meal every day."

Then he shrugged his shoulders, brushing off the feeling of mild embarrassment that had no real reason to stay here.

"I never ate much anyway.", he justified. "I'm more on the... 'appetite of a bird' side."

"I can see that.", she commented. "You're only bones and skin.", she mocked, sipping her coffee.

And scars, Edward added mentally, almost out of reflexe, but most certainly didn't say out loud.

Not that it was very hard to figure out, anyway.

 

"I don't know how long it's gonna take. I just hope you can walk normally again when your legs are healed."

The little cat looked up to him with a weak meow. She napped most of the time over the past days, exhausted and weakened by her injuries. She obviously recovered fast, the fractures were not showing any sign of complications, but still Edward worried the bones in her paws will heal completely. He checked the braces, and he knew they were correctly executed. Yet how could he be sure that...

"Don't worry over that, kitten.", Selina smiled of her predatory grin, looking down to them from the bar of the minuscule kitchen where she was currently sitting to dominate the space of the studio, and eating a tuna can. "Young lady will be just fine."

He looked up to her, trying not to feel too irritated already yet he had to correct _again_ one thing Catwoman took for granted over the past days, and which was very _annoying_ in his opinion:

"My name is Edward.", he rectified.

"Yeah, I know that.", she jeered. "What do you want me to do about it, Ginger?"

"Edward.", he repeated firmly. "Not... 'kitten' or 'Ginger' or..."

"Kiddo?", she completed the list, and he huffed out of frustration.

"Not that one either."

"Okay, kid.", she validated. "I might comply with the request over the following minute."

And indeed, the next minute she was back at calling him 'kitten'. And Edward was back at pointing it out with growing frustration while, at the same time, it caused something... warm, to bloom in his heart, like a beautiful, curious flower of light feelings he wasn't familiar with.

No one ever gave him an affectionate nickname. Or... a nickname, other than the charming words his father and bullies used to refer to him. Here it was... refreshing. And pleasant, but in a way he didn't know about because he never experienced these kind of feelings before.

 

"I want to find her a powerful name.", he told her another day this same week, and Selina grinned.

"Want to call her like your hero or something?"

"... I don't have a hero.", Edward lied, and instantly saw in Catwoman's eyes she noticed he wasn't being honest about that. "Not anymore.", he justified so, to avoid a question on the subject he won't be able to respond to. "But I want a nice name.", he focused back on the original topic.

"How about the name of a cat-god?", he tried later, and the kitten let out an appreciative meow.

Her legs were healing faster than he planned, being a baby she was more prompt to quick recovery since her body was growing, so produced more growth hormone that served well to heal from a fracture.

"What do you have in mind?"

"A lot of deities wear the face of a cat.", he explained, stroking tenderly the grey fur, provoking a soft purr from the tiny creature. "Bastet, Mekal, Tefnut... I can pull up the encyclopedia."

"Well don't do that, it would be boring."

He glared at her, and she smirked. But sarcasm was not a choice, it was a way of life for Selina Kyle, so he didn't protest on that point. How strange it was, to feel like he has known this woman forever, a wanted thief and potential criminal too.

"I like the name Isis.", he said. "It corresponds to a goddess and magician known mostly for her great healing powers."

"Nice indeed.", Selina approved.

Then she stroked herself the light grey fur, and two golden-brown eyes looked up to her lovingly, before she narrowed her eyes as she purred of contentment.

"I think she likes it."

"As it seems...", he smiled softly, looking at the cat with an amazed expression. "She's sweet."

"Sure.", Selina approved, but doing so she was watching both the cat and Edward. "Very sweet indeed."

As it appeared then, Catwoman obviously had a few hideouts she left things at, because she brought money at his studio, and he didn't have to worry to refill his stocks. Selina told him the apartment she used before her heist that went wrong has been found by the police, as it regularly happened after a rogue made an action; but she kept rolls of dollars, as well as clothes and weapons hidden at various spots in the city, to cover her needs when a place she used was discovered.

So she brought these back at his hideout.

He panicked the first morning when he woke after almost two weeks of having the rogue over and she was nowhere to be seen. Isis watched him with a look clearly expressing 'I saw her leaving, why couldn't you just be awake and do something?!', and he admitted he felt at a loss, and... betrayed, inside, during the following hours. But then Selina came back, with a full bag of personal effects plus... a paper bag of burgers and French fries. Edward tried not to let visible how _relieved_ he felt to see her return, but that was not a complete success.

"Don't worry.", she commented with this fondness showing up more and more often lately, upon perceiving the relief. "It's not my usual line of conduct, but with you I'll act civilized enough to have the decency to tell you before I leave. And it's not that I don't appreciate wearing your clothes, kid, but it was about time I went to grab some of mine."

She couldn't explain the feeling, she even admitted it to him later.

She was not used to trust people, and even less the kind of person who likes to befriend anyone other than cats. So well... it was just as new for her to play friendly and try a cohabitation of some sort with Ed as it was for him to experience these type of social contacts.

(())

"I am... not sure about that.", Edward said, worried, and Selina laughed.

"Come over here, kitten. I promise you won't fall."

He looked at her, at how... easy, it was for her. Isis walked by her side, her legs recently healed. The little grey cat looked like a shadow of a close nature following Catwoman, almost as a part of her.

"I hurt myself whenever I do anything involving physical activities like that, so I am not exactly tempted by a trip implying a potential fall to my imminent death.", Ed argued on a serious tone, and Selina chuckled.

"You are dramatizing there, Eddie.", she mocked. "Come around.", she invited more softly, and extended a hand to him. "I won't let you fall."

And despite the present -more than justified in his humble opinion- apprehension he felt, Edward didn't hesitate to take her hand. If Selina assured him it was fine and that she protected him, then he trusted her. Trust or not though, his stomach was in knocks as he walked with her, clenching her hand tightly. He took a step on the rooftop, another, another and...

Heart pounding loudly in his chest, Edward looked at the surroundings.

"See?", Selina said tenderly. "It wasn't so difficult. And I told you it's worth it."

Isis meowed in approval, easily doing the cat walk on the tiles, and they both laughed at the way she seemed determined to open the path and guide them across the rooftops, for their excursion into the Gotham night.

 

"Stop trying to hit me! Hit me!", Selina ordered fiercely, easily blocking the punch and returning one herself, precise, that collided with his jaw.

Edward winced at the contact, and backed off.

"I was holding back.", she menaced. "I was _really_ holding back.", she concluded in a dark tone, then handed him over a bottle of water he lost no time emptying.

"This is ridiculous.", he pled afterwards, looking up to her. "You can't teach me how to fight, I'm _incapable_ of defending myself, this is a waste of time."

She glared defiantly at him, apparently not at all appreciating to see her ideas taken for 'a waste of time'.

"Look.", he tried again, slightly breathless. "I appreciate the concern, but..."

"It's not 'concern'.", she cut sharply, categorical, but he pursued as if he hadn't been interrupted:

"... you really don't have to try teaching me stuff. The walks outside on the rooftops? I _love_ it.", he told her once again, even after weeks of doing so. "And all the other survival tricks, they're really cool."

He was a survivor himself, he learned since way back how to pick a lock, walk silently, go unnoticed, plus of course all the medical deal (he was certain he had more practice than a surgeon by now), and a few other key elements necessary when living that sort of life. But Selina Kyle? She was like, THE survivor, she knew a lot about life in the streets, and about... life in general, too. Tricks he had honestly been very pleased to learn, and was certain they could serve him well in the future.

That was new, too.

Now he wanted a future.

"But fighting?", he took back though, now sitting on the floor of the abandoned building they were currently using as a gymnasium. "That's... not my cup of tea."

Isis walked closer, then rubbed her head along his tigh, and he chuckled.

"Thanks for the support.", he commented, appreciative, and the kitten purred affectionately when he started stroking her back lovingly.

"Not your cup of tea?", Selina quoted, disapproval written on her face. "Kid, I am not trying to turn you into a ninja or even less make you my acolyte. It's part of the 'survival' training. I'm not asking you to become Batman, I just honestly think your life will be much easier if you knew how to correctly give a punch."

"... I thought that too.", he conceded. "Many times, actually. But as you noticed over the past hours..."

"We are merely at this since half an hour.", she corrected, sarcastic, and he huffed.

"Maybe, but during that time all you did has been to punch me of various manners and tell me to come back attack you!", he protested. "You are a terrible teacher, you know that?"

They shared a complicit gaze at this, and tried to stay serious a moment. Before it was too much and they bursted out laughing together.

To manifest her participation, Isis started to show enthusiasm by playing with the shoelaces of one of Edward's old, used and overused sneakers. And the determination she conveyed playing with the object made them both laugh fondly, before the training session turned into playing a game with the cat. As Selina found out, Edward was way more motivated by amusing the kitten than by learning how to punch.

Wasn't he just adorable?

 

"What's this?"

Edward startled, and shot her an angry glance.

"Can't you knock?!", he protested, and she just shrugged, proving how unmoved she was by the accusation in his tone.

"What is that you are taking?", she rather asked again, and he huffed, putting back the treatment on the table.

Selina wasn't there every day, she had her own time schedule and Edward wished he knew a bit more about what she was doing, but she rarely talked about her work as Catwoman. Sure, since he was very curious she told him some of the confrontations she had with the Bat, always choosing the fights when she won or that ended with them parting ways. But she made it very clear she was not tempted by relating the details of the many times she went to Arkham and what happened there, so Edward didn't ask on that part.

Catwoman was around for almost nine years now, so she was practically one of the 'original' team, this one composed of the two first proper rogues, that is to say the Joker and Poison Ivy. Edward pointed out that Batman was technically 'the' very first weirdo in costume, since he has been around _before_ Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime appeared a year after the caped crusader and Poison Ivy just a few months after this the same year. Selina smiled at how aware he was of the Bat's activities, but he only answered in a very evasive manner when she asked why he was so interested.

"I saw it on TV.", he simply said, but trying to keep a poker face was always so ineffective for him, Selina had no difficulty seeing easily through it. "And on the Internet. My brain is like a computer hard drive.", he boasted then, to avoid talking in detail about the rest. "I never forget anything, and because I looked into it a bit, now I have quite a file built on the activities between Batman and his... Rogues Gallery."

"Rogues Gallery?", she repeated. "You want this to be our actual... name?"

"Perhaps.", he grinned. "I think it's catchy. And not only because everyone calls you guys the 'rogues'. I think it could be... the real name of your group! Like, with a capital letter because it's a label and stuff."

They smiled. And Selina specified that Batman might be the first actual lunatic in costume of Gotham, he was fighting against crime boss at the time, and his... methods, plus taste for the theatrical persona, inspired many... newcomers, in the city. Edward didn't tell her he knew all of this already, that he hacked police website reports and numerical files from Arkham via his school's computers years ago just to hear more about his once hero. But despite his great knowledge in the area, he actually learned a lot via Selina's tales, and found out many very funny anecdotes about the rogues' lives. She may didn't team up with any of them much, they all interacted, at least in Arkham, and they apparently had way more fun here and there than one could guess with the depictions of how cold, cruel, merciless and psychotic they are.

"TV likes to dramatize.", Selina commented regarding the portraits of them that circulate in town. "I am not saying you can organize a picnic with Ivy or that Crane is a doll, sure; but we are not... that terrible. Not every day at least."

She winked at him and he smiled.

"So, what is this?", Selina brought him back to the present by pointing to the medicine with a movement of her chin.

Edward tended to... black out sometimes, staring at nothing and more likely living a scene of the recent past or just thinking about something. She noticed for a while, it was actually very cat-like as a behavior, so it didn't surprise her anymore the few times she talked to him only to find out he couldn't... hear her. Not that he was not paying attention, but just because his focus on reality spaced out, without him being conscious he has been absent.

Most of the times it only lasted a few minutes, so she never minded having to be a bit patient with him here and there. She was not a patient person, never had been and was certain she won't ever become one. She didn't want to, to begin with. But with this child? Everything was so... different. She knew she could be someone else for him, with him.

Such an unexpected, and kinda scary feeling.

"It's... my treatment.", Edward finally answered, looking away but not seeing a convincing lie to formulate now she had the medicine in front of her eyes.

Isis meowed in an accusative manner, as if she caught him red-handed doing a mischief. She was out with Selina during the previous days, so she just came back to the hideout with her. The two cats were already one hell of a team, and they spent all their time together.

"For the asthma.", he added, cheeks flushed, and Selina arched an eyebrow.

"You have your corticosteroids for the asthma.", she denied, having indeed seen him take a few aerosol doses sometimes when the physical activity was just a little too much for his lungs to be operational and allow him to pursue even quite simple movements.

Endurance was not his thing, he physically couldn't make too much efforts for too long without risking a crisis.

"It's chronic.", Ed clarified upon seeing her puzzled expression. "Hu... there's two main types of asthma.", he explained. "Exercise-induced asthma, this one just implies taking an inhaled dose of corticosteroid after an effort to avoid a crisis. And chronic asthma, what equally needs a dose whenever the subject starts coughing after an effort or when being in an unhealthy breathing atmosphere. But for this second type, there's also, depending on the cases, a daily treatment."

Selina frowned.

"You take medicine daily, and I notice just now?!"

Her reaction actually made him smile.

"It's very quick.", he answered simply. "I just take it when you are not around. It's not like I _needed_ it every day, so generally I use it only twice a week, I only take it more regularly when I'm sick because then the immune system is weakened by other external interventions."

He bottled back the rest of his medicine.

"But my asthma is not... severe.", he pursued. "So it isn't a problem if I don't take my medicine daily, I spent weeks without it when I couldn't afford it, and I had no real complications because of that. And anyway, it's only recommended during growth, when my lungs will be at maturity I won't need a treatment anymore, just my aerosol during efforts."

"... You really aren't made for this life.", she commented after a moment, and he turned an interrogative gaze to her.

"What are you referring to?"

"The life you are living.", she said delicately, and in her tone it came out almost as an... apology. "You really aren't made to be either a street kid or a thief, or a fighter."

"I think no one is 'made' for these lives.", he argued. "I think people just become a certain way when life pushs them in one path or another."

"Good analysis.", she approved. "What about you then?", Selina asked a bit later, her shining emerald green eyes studying him closely. "What 'path' is life pushing you in, Edward?"

"... I admit I have no idea."

He looked down, wondering, then back at her with a more determined sparkle in his, green as well but of a much lighter shade eyes, and said:

"But now you showed me a bit about what life _could be_ , I think I... want to become somebody."

(())

"I wanted to meet the Batman.", Edward confessed, one night they were both sitting on a rooftop, their legs dangling on the edge of the roof.

Selina smiled, while petting Isis who purred, nested between them.

"Childhood hero?", she guessed, and he nodded.

"He is the reason I tried to have a life in Gotham.", he revealed then. "I used to think I could... become an ally of his or something like that, if I just came to his city."

He sighed.

"At one time, I even wanted to become like his Robin, only without the acrobatic part. I wanted to be... a sort of detective working with him. Working for him. To become... part of his team."

"And he disappointed you?", she deduced as well, as it was quite easy to do when studying his body language and his tone of voice.

"... In a way, he did.", he confirmed, admiring the rapidity of her deduction skills. "I met him.", he told her too. "He... sort of saved me, one night, when I was about to... get beaten up in an alley. He was my hero at the time, and meeting him made me think I... would grow closer to him, somehow. I thought he would come back after he helped me. Not that he had to, of course. But I looked up to him since boyhood, so meeting him made me believe I could... get to him. That he would remember me, and will try to discover more about me."

He let out a very displeased sound akin to self-mockery, and Selina frowned.

"I thought I was special.", he answered to her quizzical glance about his reaction. "I thought I was... more than just a victim he rescued one night, and that he would... come back to me."

He laughed with an open bitterness, and she felt a pang of... compassion, growing inside her heart at the visible self-depreciation and how little the redhead seemed to think about himself.

"It was stupid, right?", he pursued, more and more aggressive towards his younger self. "Such a stupid child I've been. So pretentious I thought _Batman_ will remember me like I was more than a countless victim he rescued. So confident I used to think I could mean something to him one day. That I would have a chance to prove my worth and could attract his attention, and be enough for him to... maybe want me around. I dreamed he would become my... my..."

He cursed under her breath, and Selina saw the sadness in his movements, mixed with the anger directed at himself rather than at Batman. While the vigilante has been the one who didn't meet his standards.

"Did you meet him again after that?", she asked patiently, and he shook his head no.

"I saw him.", he conceded though. "Multiple times, from afar. Him, Robin and Batgirl. More than once, I saw them after an attack when I was in the neighborhood, but I never had the chance to approach one of them further, or to talk to them. Not that they would enjoy the company either ways. And if I had the occasion now, I don't even know what I would say. I am not... this child anymore. They are not my heroes anymore. I don't know what they represent to me, or what I want to... be. I just know that I have nothing to tell them now.", he concluded, and that sounded awfully defeatist.

There are a few things Selina hated, and many she absolutely despised.

A defeatist attitude was one of them.

"So what now?", she _accused_ him accordingly. "You are going to stay stuck in the past and whine over a disillusionment? People often get disappointed when they meet their idol. But is it really _that_ terrible? Are you going to feel betrayed and hurt because of that, or are you going to stand up and take back the control of your life?!"

Edward blinked, surprised by the sudden change of mood. A very cat-like lunatic attitude, but it left him quite unable to respond correctly right now.

"... What 'life'?", he simply quoted, not knowing what else to say.

He apparently selected the _worst_ choice, because she shot him a death glare.

"You enjoy that?!", she pushed the provocation, her gaze hard and her tone sharp. "Complaining about how life disappointed you and being on the verge of suicidal behaviors? What is this exactly, your unhealthy copying mechanism?!"

"What? No, I just..."

"Well let me tell you this stops now!", she cut abruptly, and he swallowed under the merciless look she gave him.

"I... hu... sorry?", he tried, not getting what she was looking for.

"Oh, I don't want you to apologize if you don't understand what you are grounded for!", she refused immediately, and he stared at her, not knowing what to do now.

He wasn't used to talk to people to begin with, and despite following her around for many weeks now, talking to Selina Kyle was definitely an activity that required many skills he didn't possess.

It was very easy, when one knows how to observe, to understand a lot of things about a person by just watching their behaviors, their rituals, the small gestures they make consciously or unconsciously. These betray many informations about a person's purposes, their thoughts, their secrets and the veracity behind the words they voice out loud. Selina has always been very skilled at that, she could easily read someone by simply watching them a bit. Some people were just harder to get than others, and the hardest subject she ever met was by far Batman.

But this boy?

He was like an open book, anyone could see the most obvious about him.

The damages. He was a broken toy tossed aside to die, who has been disillusioned by life to the point he didn't believe in anything anymore, so even less in himself.

She felt it again at the thought. She felt the... warmth, in her chest. Was that sympathy? She wasn't familiar with the feeling, she was not used to feel it towards other human beings at least. Usually when she experienced this wave of... something akin to tenderness, it was when interacting with a cat.

And she may knew the teenager for a few months now, not more, she already felt a strange sense of... responsibilities concerning him.

She may already begun to teach him stuff, it has been only for distraction so far, only because she found it funny to keep him around. Now however, she understood _why_ she was doing this, why she acted so unlike herself by taking a child who didn't even know how to fight under her wing. It was so obvious, yet it took her a bit of time to acknowledge it: she wanted, no she... _needed_ , to make him realize a few things, about himself and who he could become if he was given the right opportunities.

 

Selina opened her eyes when the sound started to increase, but when she looked around everything was silent again so she didn't identify what woke her up.

The pleasant, appeasing warmth of Isis at her side where the kitten was curled up for the night has grown usual, she brought the little creature everywhere by now, and the cat seemed decided not to separate from her. She was always by her side, and could follow her everywhere now that her injuries were completely healed. Edward has done such an admirable work, and the cat was now convinced they were both her parents.

Selina smiled a bit, ready to go back to sleep, when the noise repeated, and she froze.

They were out at night most of the time now, she brought Edward in a few robberies already. The kid revealed himself to be very good after a bit of practice, he was a quick study and even if a fighter he definitely was not, for the rest he had no difficulties controlling camera systems, shutting off alarms and other valuable skills of that kind, useful in a bulgary.

" _Give me a computer_ ," he grinned with pride when they were back from a heist and he was now in possession of more money than he ever saw. " _And I'll reprogram the world_."

They celebrated their victory together, with Isis who participated in the heist as a real partner.

No big schemes that brought the bats and the bird's attention so far, they only stole a bit and managed to go out before anyone noticed. Selina must admit, she may was not a team player, she was now  _proud_ to train her two kittens into becoming skilled mischief makers.

She silently stood up from the bed, Isis huffed a bit at being moved, but the cat just readjusted her position without properly waking up. Selina smiled, then left the bedroom.

Shortly after they started their little... collaboration for actual schemes, Edward and her found themselves moving to a proper apartment. Money helps, it's much easier to get a decent place to stay after robbing a jewellery. He couldn't believe it when she proposed he came for a heist at first, and had an even harder time understanding it was _real_ when she said he could move to a bigger residence with her, since after all, even she had been the one who did the active part of the robbery, he was monitoring the scene and shutting off the alarms, plus watching the area via the camera system. It was a shared victory, it would be unfair and very rude of her not to let him benefit of it too.

" _You are not... making fun of me, right?_ ", he had asked, amazed, and she smiled a bit.

" _No, Edward. I am not_.", she answered patiently. " _I may not be sure why I let you in like that, but what I know is that I don't want to let you down now_."

"Eddie?", Selina asked in front of the door leading to the bedroom of her partner in crime of the moment, next to her own. "Is everything alright?"

No answer, so she turned the handle and opened the door noiselessly.

The room was dark but the lights of this animated part of town entering by the windows were more than enough for anyone to see. Furthermore she was... Catwoman. Seeing in the dark has never been an issue for her.

The teenager was crying silently in his sleep, letting out broken pleas of "please stop... please..." in the middle of a confusing mess of half articulated sounds. Even if it was difficult to determine the exact words he said other than the pleading, the visions he must have at the moment were easy to contextualize.

"Edward.", Selina called more forcefully, now sitting on the edge of the bed. "You need to wake up."

She gripped his shoulder, causing a muffled scream to escape from his throat.

"No!", he protested weakly, his tone stuttering but the pleas coming clearer due to the increased panic provoked by the sudden physical contact. "Please... no more... please stop... I can't..."

"Edward!"

His eyes finally snapped open, and he gradually acknowledged her presence, his breathing laborious and his eyes wide with fear. She lighted the lamp on the bedside table nearby, not for her but to help him focus on the present reality and where he was now.

"S... Selina...?", he eventually voiced weakly, his whole body shaking.

"It's okay, baby.", she said, using an experimental version of a reassuring voice. "You were having a nightmare."

Isis walked by, alerted by the turmoil, and jumped on the bed next to them, ready to bring more comfort to her peers.

"I..."

"You don't have to tell me about it.", Selina assured gently. "If you want to talk, I'll listen, but if you don't I am not going to harass you to know what you dreamed about."

She hesitated a few seconds, then specified with as much delicacy as she could:

"Not that it was very hard to figure out."

Edward wiped the tears on his cheeks, then looked at her again, visibly trying to get back a composure that failed to be operational for now.

"Do you want a hug?"

He blinked at the offer, and she smiled at the authentic expression of _surprise_ on his face.

"I don't know how to comfort someone, so even less how to deal with a kid in such a situation.", she explained in an attempt to lighten the mood. "So... hug? Glass of milk? Going out in a bar? Movie night? Pick an option that will make you feel better."

They stared at each other for a moment after this, then they started to _laugh_ at just how much of social disasters they both were.

Then they indeed spent the night talking, together with Isis in the living room, a glass of milk in hands. They talked but they didn't evoke the nightmare. They just interacted as friends. And they just loved it.

 

"You are being too careful about that.", Selina laughed, and he denied right away, chin in the air:

"One is never too prudent. What are we gonna do if we get caught? Isis must have a place to stay in case anything happens to one of us, so I have to look for a loving family who will adopt her if needed."

"When did this became a 'we'?", she quoted, frowing, and he grinned.

"Who do you think you're kidding, Selina?", he jeered. "You _love_ me."

"And _you_.", she disapproved right away. "Do you _remember_ who are talking to?!"

But despite the warning in her eyes, they were both smiling at the little teasing.

"I never needed a partner.", Selina said afterwards. "And I still don't need one."

"I know.", he agreed quietly.

Then he smiled softly.

"That's why I feel so very touched you decided to keep me around regardless."

Selina sighed.

"I prefer if the word doesn't get spread, though.", she clarified. "I have a reputation, I don't want people to associate me with a baby ginger nerd from now on."

"I am not a 'baby'.", he countered, rolling his eyes. "I'm _fifteen_."

"You are a sweet, adorable little kitten.", she corrected, smirking, and he stuck his tongue out at her in response. "Who makes questionable choices and shows funny, bratty behaviors.", she completed at his reaction, and they shared a smile.

"I don't think my choices are 'questionable' anymore.", Edward argued however.

He looked at her with an admiration he didn't feel before a very long time. Maybe he never felt it at all. After all, he may worshipped the Batman as his childhood hero, he never... interacted with him. He used to be charmed by an idea, by a fantasy that may didn't exist in reality. He fell in love with a picture, like a disrupted high school teen who develops a destructive, unheathly crush on a celebrity and it ends up destroying their lives when it turns into a complete obsession.

But now everything changed.

Things were... different; he plenty realized it, being there stroking Isis and talking to Selina after they successfully robbed an artifact from a private collection together.

"On the contrary.", he concluded, determined and smiling broadly. "I never felt more  _certain_ I am finally doing what's best for me."

_______________

 

"Who is that?!"

"Leave him be.", Selina ordered sternly. "He is not part of the affair, he just sneaks around."

Batman glared at her angrily.

"Selina. _Who_ is this kid?!"

"At least he is not mine!", she jeered, provocative as ever. "Sorry big guy, but the day I'll break to you the announcement we have a child, that will be to show up with a _younger_ fellow. This one's a teen."

Batman gritted his teeth, his jaw clenched.

"I am well aware he's not yours.", he spat, his limited patience at the verge of snapping. "What were you _thinking_ , Selina?!", he rather asked, something like disgust flashing on his tensed facial expression. "Bringing a child at one of your schemes?!"

"Seriously?", she scoffed. " _You_ are going to make the lesson about how dangerous it can be to drag a kid over?! Robin may be a real fighter now, he was much younger than my boy when you let him join!"

"So he's 'your boy'?", he repeated, disapproving. "What have you done exactly?! You found a street kid and you promised him jewelries if he served as bait during a heist?!"

"Don't _insult me_ , Batman!", she hissed aggressively. "The boy is here because he wants to, not because I forced him into doing anything! And I _never_ used him as bait or put him in danger without being there to intervene if things went sour! Now _do not_ hurt him, and don't do as if he has to be punished for trying to distract himself a little. What are you planning to do, hu? Send him to Arkham? You _saw_ him, right?! He'll be dead before dusk if he ever steps there! That would make you a _murderer_ , of a _minor_ moreover. You should better cut his throat right now with one of your batarangs, that's exactly the same as if you drive him to Arkham!"

"I am not the one who would have brought him there!", he retorted dryly. "What were you trying to prove Selina, by taking a child for sidekick?!"

"And what would _you_ be trying to prove, if you sent that child to Arkham now?!", she accused him with even more venon in her tone, and they glared defiantly at each other, the tension in the air reaching a critical level.

Things could never be easy or simple, that was a fact. So even less here in Gotham, when choosing this way of life.

While Batman and Catwoman were obviously arguing, out of view to spare their innocent ears or something, Edward glared at Robin who looked down to him with the face of someone who absolutely doesn't want to be there and has no idea how to deal with the situation.

"So... who are you supposed to be again?", the Boy Wonder tried awkwardly, a hand on his black hair. "I mean... are you like... hu..."

"Catwoman's Robin?", Ed proposed in a sarcastic tone of voice, and the older teenager nodded.

"Yes, that.", he approved. "Hu... you have a name?"

Edward looked at him with disbelief. How could Robin turn out to be so... disappointing, once talked to?

"No, I don't.", Ed answered sarcastically. "You see, I was born in the middle of an economical crisis, so to save more money, my parents decided not to give me a name. It's recurrent, to make these sort of benefits by skipping the part where you give an appellation to your children. It gives you discounts in some supermarkets if the rumor is to be trusted."

Robin blinked, then sighed.

"Yeah... My question was stupid.", he admitted.

"You don't say.", Edward scoffed, and the other frowned a bit.

"Look.", he tried again. "It's... hu... Batman doesn't fight children."

"He only takes them as his sidekicks.", Ed sneered, and Robin blinked again, apparently searching for what to say.

Edward decided he absolutely despised that guy.

"I just wanted to make you realize.", the older one took back in a gentler manner. "That you have been lucky not to get killed tonight.", he insisted, and something like... care, showed up in his tone, of the kind that made Edward highly uncomfortable. "And very lucky as well, that there were no victims. Because if someone died or got badly injuried during Catwoman's heist while you played her _acolyte_ , you would have a share in the damages caused. And you understand that could have cost you judicial troubles, right? Maybe even a few days in custody, or worse if it had been a crime!"

Edward crossed his arms on his chest, glaring defiantly at the taller boy.

"I _appreciate_ your concern.", he jeered. "Now are you going to keep enunciating silly facts everyone knows about, or are you actually going to say or do something useful? Or perhaps that's not your job, not what you are hired for.", he concluded darkly. "Maybe Batman just likes to have an incompetent around, because he loves being reminded of how _superior_ he is to everyone."

Robin's demeanor changed at that, and his glare became harder under his domino mask, it showed up in his expression.

"I was trying to make you understand you are making a mistake.", he said more coldly. "You have no reason to insult me. And for your information.", he pursued in a daring tone. "I acknowledged how much of a jerk Batman can be on my own, I don't need anyone's help to come to this obvious conclusion."

Edward frowned slightly, trying not to feel too interested, yet he was already curious over the _reason_ why the bond between the vigilante and his sidekick was clearly not what it used to be anymore.

"Are you in the middle of an adolescent crisis, Robin?", he jested consequently, studying Robin's body language with increased attention. "You used to love your dad more than anyone and you would have _died_ for him, but now you grew up and you realized he is not as perfect of a role model as you used to idealize him, so you feel like you must take your distances and try to make a name of your own without his constant breath on your neck dictating your every moves?"

Robin frowned.

"How did you...", he began, visibly not expecting to be unmasked that easily, and Edward started to grin with pride, when their exchange was cut off by Batman walking in again with Catwoman.

"You, you get out of here and you disappear.", the tall man introduced at Ed's intention. "I got..."

He gave a brief glance to Catwoman, then looked back at him.

"I let myself getting convinced.", he informed sternly. "Since there were no important damages caused, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt tonight. I'll tell the GCPD Catwoman operated alone, as usual, and I won't do anything against you. Consider it's a favour, and don't put yourself in a delicate situation like this ever again, because next time you won't have someone to defend you, and I won't be as gentle."

"What... that's it?!", he exclaimed, scornful, but Selina shot him a cold glare and immediately corrected:

"Don't play bratty now.", she scolded him. "If you don't want to be sent to prison, I suggest you keep your mouth shut and walk away."

Edward's cheeks flushed pink immediately, vexed by the dismissive way Selina addressed him. He was not an idiot, he understood she just tried to protect him by giving him a way out. But still, he couldn't just be treated like a kid they grounded and being asked to go to his room or...

"What's your name?", Batman asked in a detached tone of voice, and Eddie gave a quick interrogative glance to Selina.

She nodded discreetly, confirming it won't be a problem and he could say it without risking anything.

"Edward.", he told them so.

"Well, Edward.", the Bat validated in a, still stoic but more calm voice. "I am doing you a favour while I don't have to and while I am not gaining _anything_  in being nice to you. If it was just up to me, I won't let a team-up with a rogue go unpunished. But I let you go tonight, and I am going to forget about you being a part of this. If you make another mistake however, as I told you, I won't be as kind."

Edward glared at him, fists clenched, ready to argue or to try to fight him, but Selina shook her head no, to order him not to make an action he'll regret. He wasn't given more time to add anything though, because next thing Batman concluded:

"Right. Now let's get back to work.", and he addressed to Selina again.

He was about to leave, certainly to reach his Batmobile or whatever with Catwoman before driving her to Arkham, when he turned back to Ed and ended, a hint of mockery in his low tone:

"Be a good boy and don't try anything stupid like that again."

Edward would have screamed at him if he didn't leave after that, Selina arguing with him over of how much of a dick he was, and soon Ed was left alone with Robin in the alley the four of them landed in after the bank robbery went sour.

"See? He's a jerk.", Robin said, as if he apologized over the fact, and Ed looked back up to him, the anger that boiled in his veins not cooling off a bit. "Hey.", the sidekick tried again, almost in a friendly attempt. "Don't do a fixation on that, okay? Everyone has the right to make a mistake at some point. The only thing you need to have in mind now is that you must work not to let the 'mistake' ruin your life. Just drop it, there's nothing but sufferings down that path. You'd better forget about it and quickly move on from whatever lie Catwoman told you her life is. There is nothing shining, no fun, no light, no amusement, no happy ending for people who chose that path. You have the chance not to be forced into going the wrong way, so forget about it and invest yourself into doing something else."

You don't understand?!, Edward wanted to yell at him, but managed to keep the words for himself, knowing it could only get him in trouble. She gave me a life!, he pursued his inner arguing nevertheless. I was no one, I thought of _killing myself_ when I met her, and she is the only one who ever took an interest on me, she is the first person who managed to make me feel wanted, to make me feel alive! And now you want me to throw that away?! To act as if it never existed, and to forget about it while it's the only good thing I ever experienced my entire life?!

Are you asking me to _die_ , Robin?! Because by ordering me to leave this aside, it's just like you gave me a loaded gun and told me to fire aiming my head.

"Please.", Robin took back, apparently getting Edward was thinking the contrary of agreeing with his demand.

And even at his state of blinding anger, Ed couldn't deny how clear it was that the sidekick was being genuinely concerned.

"Gotham has a bad influence on people.", he said again. "Trust me, I am well placed to know that. So just... try to resist to it, okay? You don't have to let this city decide of your fate."

"I am not born Gothamite.", he retorted flatly, not seeing anything else to answer and not knowing why the older teenager was playing guidance counselor now.

"Me neither.", Robin commented with a smile. "Yet see what I look like now, and how I dress up to hang out all nights long. Believe me.", he ended more seriously. "I saw what this city does to people. I know once you're in too deep, it becomes very difficult to see a way out. So just... take this as a friendly advise: you are not forced to do anything or to keep trying in a path that is only destructive. Don't let Gotham turn you into something you are not."

"... I'll keep that in mind.", Edward answered more softly, anger cooling off a bit, and Robin gave him a frank nod, an encouraging smile on his lips.

"Let the big guy forget about tonight.", the Boy Wonder recommended just when he was about to fire of his grapple hook as a closure to the exchange. "If you don't give him an occasion to remember what happened, you won't have problems with him."

Then he left.

Edward's eyes followed his silhouette flying across the buildings until he was not in view anymore.

He stayed there, standing in that alley a long time, not moving at all and trying not to think about a thing. When he came back to himself, he was smiling.

Sincerely _smiling_.

He was more than decided to do the _exact opposite_ of what Robin recommended.

No chance in Hell he'll ever let Batman 'forget' about him now.

___________

 

Edward hated the Batman.

 _That_ he was now certain of at least. Over the next two months after Selina's... departure, Ed made himself a duty to prove it to the vigilante. His camera systems were operational at various spots of the city, with Selina's money along with her training, he managed to keep himself ahead of most of the bats' activities, and showed up at the places they stayed every time he could.

Like tonight, after an attack of the Joker left victims in a lane inside a suburb. The rogue had obviously been looking for something in order to plan his next scheme, and was long gone when the Bat arrived to the place to collect clues in order to try to understand his next step and foil his plans.

"What are you doing here?!"

Batman's tone is low, menacing.

Edward just looks up, chin in the air, in an attitude daring him to fight him or do something to him.

"As far as I know, you don't _own_ Gotham City.", he retorted. "I don't think someone needs your authorization to walk down the streets."

The Bat glared at him.

"Don't play me for a fool, child.", he ordered coldly. "What are you doing _here_ on a crime scene?!"

Eddie shrugged, not at all scared by the menacing outlook.

"I didn't kill anyone. I simply came to see what happened after I heard the noises, just like you did. Such a mess your boyfriend made once again."

"There is a _difference_ between you and me.", Batman growled, without taking offence for the Joker part and leaving it aside to rather argue over the main point he needed that kid to _understand_ once and for all. "A major difference.", he repeated accordingly.

"I don't see any.", Ed aggressively _accused_ him back. "You may call yourself a detective, you are not officially one, neither a policeman nor a private investigator. You have no more right than any other citizen to investigate on a crime, and you have even less rights to punish people who do so, would they be officially accredited or not."

"I have a priority.", he contested, his patience snapping. "On every activity related to the rogues in this town."

"What, you think dressing up like a vampire puts you above the laws?", the teen sneered. "Then if it's the case, I should go find myself a Halloween costume too, since it's the only thing that gives rights to people around here!"

Honestly, Edward wondered why Batman wasn't punching him, now.

He visibly wanted to, and it wasn't as if Ed won't have been asking for it. But the vigilante managed to control himself, after making a solid effort, and looked down to him with his cold glare rather than beating him up.

"I know you are just curious.", he said, in a more patient manner despite the fact his tone remained full of fury. "And that you don't see anything wrong about being curious. But you are going to get yourself killed, or to put yourself in a very dangerous situation that you risk to regret."

"What are pulling, now?", the ginger mocked. "The story of my life? Because if it's the case then congratulations, you are getting it _just right_ so far."

They glared at each other, then Batman sighed.

"Look. Edward. You seem to be a smart kid, do you really want to waste your potential by dying in a silly situation just because you need to... what? Try to satisfy your curiosity over a dangerous life that never concerned you? Because you feel... involved in a way, while you are absolutely not?"

"Curiosity killed the cat, hu?", Eddie jested. "Well breaking news for you, big black bat, a cat has _nine_ lives, and I still have a great deal of my jokers to waste, precisely, into trying to _do something_."

Then he turned around and walked away.

No need to stay there any longer just to hear the vigilante he once admired lecture him and telling him to back off.

"You shouldn't be trying to get yourself killed.", the Bat called after him, and it made the rage raise in his organism. "You should rather get a life, instead of thinking you can play with the big boys while you are just a child craving for attention."

Edward's blood instantly started to boil in his veins, and he hurriedly turned back to him, his wrath against the crusader stronger than ever.

"How _dare_ you say I..."

"Stop wasting my time, Edward.", he interrupted.

Then he took a few steps toward him, dominating him with his tall, imposing size and looking down to him with unforgiving eyes, before saying, in a deliberate attempt to sound nasty in order to make the child _leave_ these dangerous habits of his:

"I don't want to see you on a crime scene ever again. This is not your place, and you have no role to play in this fight. You'd better go back distracting yourself in the playground."

Then he fired his grapple hook.

"Come back here!", Ed shouted after him, blinded with rage. "You coward!"

It was no use, since Batman decided the meeting was over.

"I will show you!", Edward couldn't stop himself from yelling after him nevertheless, even if he was aware of how unuseful and childish that behavior is. "I will... you will _see_...", he whispered, more for himself than anything, his fists clenched and his body trembling with rage.

You will see!, he wanted to scream at the Bat's stoic, statue-like facial expression. I'm gonna show you you shouldn't be treating me like that. I'm gonna _prove you_ I am worth it and you should have made me your ally. I never asked for anything else. It was the only thing I ever wanted, the only thing I... lived for. But _now_.

He turned a hard glare at the dark night sky.

Now, he went on with his inner monologue in the same daring tone. I'm gonna make you _regret_ you turned me into your enemy.

 

Later that day, in the dead of night, Edward found himself standing on the flat rooftop of a medium-sized building at one of the most animated parts of town.

Night or day, Gotham City was active, alive, and anything but sleeping.

So many lights, so many activities, so many people outside living, working, playing, abusing of an already corrupted system which lets everyone does everything they want with no one ever controlling anything.

This was the city Batman fought in, the city Edward decided to join, the city they both lived in now.

Maybe now was the time for him to do... something else. To do more. To _become_ more. Selina opened the path in a way, even if she never tried to turn him into neither her official partner nor a villain of his own. He knew she just... played for distraction, because he and Isis were the pleasant activities she found during over eight months.

Two weeks ago, Edward found a family for Isis and made sure it was a safe, loving home where she won't get in troubles. The little girl of the family litteraly fell in love with the grey cat, there was nothing to worry about in that field. Not that Edward didn't want to keep the young cat with him, of course, but... he wanted to do something. And by doing so, he won't be able either to protect her or to stay around with her. So he found the best home, apologized for having to separate from her, and had her adopted by a caring family. He just hoped she won't hate him too much, but even if she never forgave him for abandoning her... everything was now for the best for her, she'll be safe and loved, and in a much healthier and better situation.

And _now_ precisely, it was Edward's turn to... try something, but he needed to be alone for this.

Selina escaped three weeks after their heist gone wrong, as it was common in the asylum. Most of the times, the rogues didn't spend longer than a month in prison. The news told so, Catwoman was back in town.

And once again, Edward thought he was special.

He thought he was good enough, that he mattered to someone enough to be... wanted, and that the first person who ever cared about him _really_... cared.

Yet apparently he proved to be a stupid, arrogant fool once again.

Selina never reappeared. She never walked back in his life, never went to their places where he desperately stayed and left messages at, she never tried to reach out to him, not even to properly tell him, face-to-face, that it was over. She just let him down, reminded him he wasn't worth it and it was childish from him to ever think she cared. In a way, she did way worse than Batman. Because the Bat didn't know about him when he 'let him down', he could _never_ have guessed he was Edward's childhood hero. But Catwoman became his rogue model and his mentor, she became his first real and best  _friend_ even, yet she let him down without a word.

And a part of him knew she was doing so to protect him, to tell him he must ditch it and forget about her. He deduced easily it was just her way to make him understand their... collaboration has been a mistake, and that he must try anew, not go down this path and rather find a better life on his own. He was well aware she acted like that simply because she didn't find a better way to make him understand the message.

He _knew_ it. But it didn't hurt any less.

And now... 

Ed looked at the life below his feet, from the top of the medium-sized building. He imagined the sensation of tilting if he stepped just a few inches closer to the edge of the roof, the wind slapping in his ears, his heart pounding with fear, the movement of his body, the fall... the fall...

Falling is just like flying, right? The only difference is the more... permanent destination.

And he spent his life falling, without ever reaching the end, without ever colliding with the ground that would have conclude forever this continual fall.

But as he imagined the scene, he realized this was... not what he wanted. Not at all, not anymore.

On the contrary: maybe it was _not too late_ to finally open his wings and start to fly, instead of keep falling. So okay, his wings were broken, and weak, and unable to properly carry him right now, but they could heal, couldn't they? At least in appearance. At least just enough to let him... try something. Anything. Just something _else_ , that will save him from this meaningless life he felt trapped inside.

Maybe if he was just allowed to try something new, he could... could...

Edward looked up from the ground to the streets he could see from his spot, then to the other buildings surrounding him, with their huge billboard advertisings everywhere.

He looked up until his green eyes stared at the dark night sky.

With the lights of the city, it was difficult to see the stars when at the center of the town like where he was standing right now, even when the sky was cloudless. So he only saw a few stars, but the constellations he knew by heart because he learned their names and the map of the sky a long time ago, were barely visible even for him who precisely knew where to look at. Yet he knew they were here, and where they stood at this moment of the night.

Eddie felt it inside, the unusal, pleasant warmth looking like a light in the dark, like a star that could guide him through the night now.

He wanted to live.

It had been so... unsure, since Gotham City, he seriously asked himself the question more than once. But that was no longer the case. He didn't want to be gone before doing anything, in the end. He was not a nobody, not a broken child with no ambitions unable to do something with his life. He wasn't going to die, alone and forgotten. He wasn't going to be erased from the world before anyone got to know his name. No. He was going to _fight_ instead, to teach both his once hero and his rogue mentor they should have believed in him, and that they made a big mistake underestimating him. And he will make the Bat _regret_ not showing more faith in him.

Edward suddenly felt... active. It was as if his body began to burn with energy, with a barely held back and newly found strength, of a kind he never experienced before. Now he was smiling, smiling and... he felt the urge to act like a kid, why not. To express how he felt, instead of keeping the emotions bottled up inside like he always did.

No. Tonight he didn't want to hold back anymore. Tonight he... wanted to _scream!_

So that's exactly what he did, on his building his fists clenched, looking at this city in the night. His heart pounded, his breathing was fast, and he felt... powerful. He felt unstoppable suddenly, with this burning energy radiating from him like a little star. Today he was becoming someone else. A better, stronger version of who he is.

Finally. He was going to make it this time, he was going to have a life on his own, he _wanted to_  plus he had the resources to  _do it_ now.

And this new life implied proving them wrong. Batman, Catwoman, Robin... Gotham City itself too. The town thought it broke him? The others believed they could just ask him to _leave_?! Everyone who thought he was not strong enough for this, Edward wanted to prove them now, how _wrong_ they have been about him.

He was going to _show_ them. He was going to show them all.

 


End file.
